When a whitebelt decides to go !hulksmash! on me I usually make an effort to tap him with a scarf hold. I've managed a few times. Fortunately my instructors are pretty good at phasing most of the noobs into sparring and supervising them/coaching them throughs it... so they usually do it but individually most of them chill out pretty fast.

I didn't spaz, I didn't have friends that spazzed, we got better much faster, working out kinks in our games, most of us are blue now going onward, but the spazzes have left or are still flopping around like dying fish, so stupid.

Really does make you not fun/safe to roll with and you will be marked as 'that noob spaz'.

I didn't spaz, I didn't have friends that spazzed, we got better much faster, working out kinks in our games, most of us are blue now going onward, but the spazzes have left or are still flopping around like dying fish, so stupid.

Really does make you not fun/safe to roll with and you will be marked as 'that noob spaz'.

Awesome I'm glad to see someone else near the beginning of their career sticking up for the no spazz from the start mentality.

I'm still a white belt and have been going to class for about 10 months. At the start I definitely used my muscles alot more than I should have, thats why I always found myself almost dead after the first roll.

After about 6 months I don't no what changed but all of a sudden I really started to take note when I was using too much energy instead of stoping, thinking and then trying to apply the correct techniques. I now always make a point of thinking about when I should and should not apply energy. The best way I've found is to concentrate on my breathing. If I notice I'm holding my breath I know i'm probably not doing it right.

Now I'm not saying I no longer muscle out of positions, because I still do. Usually it happens when I can't think of or don't know the proper technique and I start feeling flustered. It's a learning curve, as I get better at my technique hopefully I will start to muscle less and less.

It's easy to say trust me, the plate's hot. But sometimes people have to learn for themselves.

Last edited by RedRock; 5/11/2011 9:53pm at .
Reason: Stupid me pressed post before I finished

I remember my first couple of BJJ lessons. I gassed so hard I puked. Repeatedly. Fortunately I was already a member of this site. Now, whether it was here or on the mat, early on I received the best advice I have had so far: "breathe". I also had the benefit of trawling through countless bullshido threads about being a noob in BJJ and they all seemed to give the same impression, slow down, breathe.

Breathing is important, I was to later understand through various avenues of research. Apparently when you breathe there is this particular element called "air" that is vital to this thing known as "life" that enters the lungs and through a series of processes called "magic", it gives the body the ability to do voluntary "things". Put simply: without this "air" you cannot perform the "magic" required to do "things" you want to do. Lack of air, as evidenced above, on top of having the ability of turning you into a coward, can cause involuntary "things", such as vomiting, passing out and my personal favourite, shitting yourself.

So when I, as a noob, went back for my third BJJ lesson I began to learn about this thing called "tapping". Because I wasn't using my brute strength and pure awesome "I totally would've punched you in the face if you tried that **** on the street" attitude, I began learning that when someone is in a dominant position on top of me, struggling like I was a character in a Saw movie had a similar, though decidedly less gory, effect as being a character in a Saw movie.

So, after a while, I put two and two together and because I finished the first grade, I came up with four. Four being the numerical equivalent of maintaining a consistent breathing pattern while someone was in a dominant position. It became apparent that I didn't gas out as quick. This gave me time to remember the various escapes taught to me in class. Lo and behold, escapes and sweeps began to occur. No, they were not regular, yes, against the more experienced players they were probably gifts, but they began happening.

Recently, while I was in mount, this guy was spazzing hard. My coach was yelling at me for various reasons, but I am heaps good now so I don't need to listen to him anymore (note to noobs: this is never the case and was written for purely comical purposes), but I was happy to ride mount like the noob was a bull and I was in the PBR, only my chest and belly were smothering the bull as he bucked. Surprise, surprise, he gassed and I choked him out. Coach commended me on an awesome display of BJJ prowess. In reality, Coach did not commend me on my laziness, but that is what I chose to hear, once again, for comical purposes only (please, Coach, it is only a joke).

Moral of the story: I forget, listen to the other more experienced guys above.